Cuddlesome CATastrophe
by katskee
Summary: Ron has always hated Crookshanks. What will happen if they switched bodies? Will he hate him even more or will he just enjoy the pleasure of being always cuddled by Hermione? Totally RH!
1. Power of Words

CUDDLESOME CAT-ASTROPHE 

by squidward

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**SUMMARY:** Ron has always hated Crookshanks. What will happen if they switched bodies? Will he hate him even more or will he just enjoy the pleasure of being always cuddled by Hermione? Totally R/H!

**RATING: **PG

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Harry Potter.

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**Chapter I: Power of Words**

"I'll strangle you to death, you silly cat!" Ron roared as he jumped to catch Crookshanks, who accidentally (but Ron was insisting that it was deliberate) ripped Ron's Potions essay into halves. Crookshanks quickly ran away from Ron's furious, ready-to-kill hands and jumped into Hermione's arms.

"Give that cat to me, Hermione!" Ron bellowed. His face was livid and the veins on his temple were throbbing dangerously.

"Ron, what are you so mad about?" Hermione asked. She just arrived and was completely oblivious to what had happened.

"That cat," Ron pointed an accusing finger to Crookshanks, who groaned angrily, "just sabotaged my homework!" he showed Hermione the torn parchment.

Hermione stared at Ron's 'sabotaged' homework. It was dappled with cat's footmarks. She looked from the parchment, to Ron, to her cat and back to Ron. "Oh Ron, it was an accident! Crookshanks never meant to-"

"ACCIDENT?!" Ron shouted angrily, and gave Hermione a look that she was being incredulous. His voice was shaking slightly, "That slimy cat ruining my almost finished homework an accident? Are you kidding me?"

"As if Crookshanks would do it intentionally!" Hermione snapped. Her face was as red as Ron's. She was glaring at him as if saying that even a little child could say that what she was saying was pretty obvious. "He's just a cat Ron, for Merlin's sake!"

The people around them started to laugh. Although listening to Ron and Hermione's bickering was as natural as breathing for Gryffindors, it had never failed to give them entertainment at most times. Harry, however, was sick of it, so he just sank on one corner, far from Ron and Hermione, and buried his face on his Potions book.

"Huh! Stop treating him like an ordinary cat Hermione! You're already petting a nasty little beast and you don't even know it!" Ron glared at Hermione, who was already turning purple in anger.

"Will you just leave my cat alone!? You're always judgmental about him ever since! You're so immature!"

"I will leave him alone if he leaves me alone first!" Ron spat. Hermione glared at Ron. She was clutching Crookshanks so hard that Crookshanks squealed in pain.

"If you hand me that cat I'll save you the hassle of strangling it to death," Ron hissed through clenched teeth.

"Just quit this kid's play Ron! I don't see why you have to dislike Crookshanks that much!"

"Hermione I don't dislike him. I hate him!"

"He's not doing anything bad to you!"

"Not doing anything?! Yeah, he just turned my Potions essay into rubbish. He didn't do anything, honestly!"

"I said it was an accident! He's just a cat! When will you ever listen?!"

"I'll listen when I see that cat roasted!" Ron barked. Crookshanks was squeaking in pain, struggling to be released from Hermione's grip which was getting tighter and tighter every minute.

"Will all your problems disappear when my cat gets roasted?!" Hermione retorted. They were staring dangerously at each other a complete stranger would never dare to guess that they were actually bestfriends.

"You bet!"

"Huh! If that'll happen then Crabbe is a genius!" Hermione yelled. "I wish you and Crookshanks swap places for a day, that will tell you how horrible you've been treating him!"

CRASH!

Before Ron could retaliate, a ball-sized, marble-like thing smashed his head, throwing him face flat on the floor. He fell with a loud thud making him unconscious, and Hermione let out an earsplitting shriek.

"RON!" Hermione and Harry shouted and the same time, and the two darted to Ron's direction. There was a commotion and everyone in the common room panicked. Ginny threw her homework away and hurried to her brother.

"What happened?" Ginny asked, but Harry and Hermione were busy checking Ron's head.

"It hit him," Dean said, who came to the scene and was now studying the thing that knocked Ron. It was an unusually large Remembrall. Harry, Hermione and Ginny looked at it nervously.

"Who throw it?" Harry asked angrily to the surrounding curious crowd. Neville slowly raised his trembling hand. Everyone's attention turned to Neville.

"I'm sorry. I was practicing the Engorgement Charm on my new Remembrall. Then I tripped on Trevor and slipped my wand and before I knew it that thing already knocked Ron out," Neville explained apologetically.

"Let's just bring Ron to the infirmary," Ginny said and she pointed her wand on Ron's body and made it float in mid-air. She directed it out of the common room and Harry and Hermione followed her. Hermione absentmindedly carried Crookshanks, who already passed out because of Hermione's grip. Neville, confused on what to do, made up his mind and followed them too.

"I hope he'll be alright."

"Don't worry. It's just a common injury. He'll be okay soon," said Harry, though the worry in his voice wasn't convincing at all. He, Neville, Hermione, and Ginny were sitting on either side of the unconscious Ron.

"I'm really sorry about this," Neville muttered.

"It's an accident. It's no one's fault," Ginny said.

"Oh Ron," Hermione was watching Ron with great anxiety. She was feeling guilty about their row. "If I just dropped our argument then he could have evaded it."

Just then, Ron started to stir. Hermione's voice woke him up. "What happened?" he mumbled, his vision still blurred. But no one answered him. He blinked hard to improve his visibility, but he still couldn't see well.

"What happened?" Ron repeated more loudly. Still, no one answered. He turned around his head reluctantly for his face had been resting comfortably on a soft cushion. But what he saw made his jaw dropped.

He saw his body lying on the bed.

It took quite a while for Ron to recover from the shock. He looked around and saw Harry and Neville watching his unconscious body. When he turned sideways he saw his sister looking at the bed too. Ron panicked. _Is he dead?_

"Crookshanks, be still," Hermione murmured but Ron could feel her breath touching his face. He looked up, blushing, and gulped when he saw Hermione. Her face was so close to him. She looked so anxious about something. Ron was puzzled at this close proximity when an arm pulled him closer to her. Just then he realized that she was actually embracing him. He looked down again and his burning face bumped on the soft cushion.

_Where the heck is he?_ Ron's eye caught the glass on Hermione's back. He was expecting to see his own reflection – which undoubtedly would be as red as a tomato – but it wasn't. Instead, he saw Crookshanks looking back at him. Ron winked, and Crookshanks winked too. _What was that silly cat doing there?_ Ron scratched his head, and so did Crookshanks. Ron's heart started to race. Ideas were starting to formulate in his mind.

He slowly looked at his hand. He nearly passed out again when he saw that it was covered with ginger fur. He touched his cheek and felt it was furry too – he even felt some whiskers.

Blood started to rush on his face. This explained why Hermione was so close to him. He was too busy thinking about how close Hermione was to him that his mind processed the scene slower than usual.

Slowly, comprehension dawned upon him and when he finally put the last piece of this little puzzle in place, he let out a loud roar, but what he heard was not his voice. Instead, it was a cat's shriek.

"Crookshanks, be quiet!" Hermione hissed, but her voice was still gentle.

Ron's mind started to swirl. He was inside Crookshanks' body! His face started to burn again. He realized that the 'cushion' he was referring to was actually Hermione's breasts!

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	2. I am He, He is Me

CUDDLESOME CAT-ASTROPHE 

by squidward

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**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Harry Potter.

**A/N:** The number of reviews I got is unbelievable! Loads of thank you's to you all: zephyra1 (first reviewer! Nice to see u again), FFQueen, Me, Trym, Anne (it occurred to me too but I'll not use that idea here, I don't want such a complicated story), airhead14 (oh, you reviewed!), GasolineRuby (I'll finish this, don't worry. So pls, don't cry), artemisgirl (nice to see you again), Pullmanlover, Persephone's-Child, Weasley, Colin, orli-enthusiast, SweetStephy and Heba. It's nice to see some of my old reviewers again. I intended to update earlier but I got sidetracked. I'll try to update soon next time. I have to hurry, gotta watch Spongebob.

Okay, from this point I will still be addressing Ron as Ron and Crookshanks as Crookshanks even though their not on their respective bodies. Also, _'Ron'_ meant Crookshanks and _'Crookshanks'_ meant Ron. Got it? I know you do, you guys are a bunch of geniuses. And sorry for the stupid chapter title.

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**Chapter II: I am He, He is Me **__

It was quarter past eight and Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Neville were still watching the unconscious redhead lying on the bed. The silent atmosphere was awkward but no one dared to utter a single sound when everyone was so worried as to what might happen to Ron. Only the 'tick' of the wall clock and the scratching of Madam Pomfrey's quill could be heard. Even Crookshanks was unusually quiet.

But he was a different case of course.

Few seconds ago the ginger cat resting uncomfortably in Hermione's embrace realized that he wasn't supposed to be there at all. He was supposed to be the one lying on the bed and being watched with anxious expressions by his friends and sister. Instead, he found himself on the bosom of his bushy haired friend, and the mere thought of it was enough to turn his face into dark shades of scarlet.

But no one seemed to notice. And no one would notice it at all.

Ron knew that panic must envelope him now but his current situation diverted his supposed instinct into something else. He couldn't help but think how nice it was to rest on Hermione's chest and how wonderful it was to smell her alluring scent. Why he was there and what happened, he didn't know, and honestly, a part of him wanted not to care at all.

But he had to.

What happened anyway? He could recall arguing with Hermione about her silly cat – whose body trapped his soul now – and a heavy thing hitting him hard on the head. He was expecting to feel pain but before his nerves could transmit it to his brain an unknown force resembling a black hole pulled him away in a blink. Then he couldn't remember what happened next.

Why was he inside Crookshank's body? If his soul was inside this cat, then, where was Crookshank's soul? Ron thought he knew the answer to the latter but he didn't want to believe it. He turned nervously to his body and watched it with narrowed eyes. Just then Hermione made an audible gasp.

"Ron!" Everyone else watched the stirring redhead apprehensively. The redhead blinked and looked around. Ron found it scary to watch this scene.

"Are you alright now?" piped Madam Pomfrey, who had just heard Hermione's voice. The redhead stared at her bemusedly for a moment and nodded slowly. Then he turned to Hermione, then to Ron. Their eyes locked for a moment. Ron's temper was close to touching the surface when the redhead smirked furtively at him.

"Well, if you're really okay you can go back to your dormitory now," said Madam Pomfrey and she wheeled out of sight. Ginny helped 'Ron' in getting up. When he was out of bed he looked really amazed. _Of course,_ Ron thought irritably, _it was his first time to stand on two legs!_

"What's the matter?" Harry asked. The redhead shook his head vigorously. He glanced at Ron again and Hermione caught this.

"Ron, I'm really sorry about this," she began, interpreting Ron's glance to blaming this accident to her cat, "it's my fault. Don't get mad at Crookshanks."

Harry, who thought this might lead to another row, quickly changed the topic. "Let's just all go back to the common room. We still have to finish our homeworks." Surprisingly (for everyone except the real Ron), 'Ron' just nodded and followed them out without any word.

"Ron, are you still mad?" Hermione asked. She moved closer to Crookshanks, worry splattered on her face. Crookshanks smiled sweetly at her and shook his head. Hermione sighed in relief and smiled back. Ron wanted to make use of his newly acquired claws now.

"I think I still owe you," Hermione said in a more cheerful tone than before. "I'll do your Potions essay."

_'Really?!'_ Ron asked excitedly, his eyes sparkling with joy. But what he only managed was incomprehensible meows.

"What's the matter Crookshanks?" asked Hermione. Ron gazed at her, horrified. He couldn't speak normal English anymore – let alone speaking a language human beings could understand. He swore he saw Crookshanks smirked at him. Ron wanted to strangle that stupid cat, though doing so would mean strangling his own body. He knew that he knew what was happening but unlike him, he was perfectly enjoying himself. _Well it is nice with Hermione cuddling me all the time,_ he thought but quickly shook the lustful idea away.

"T-thank you t-then," Crookshanks stammered. It was his first time to speak English and it must be really awkward. "B-but I-I think I'll h-help y-you, I mean, I'll d-do it a-and you'll j-just, er, guide me."

Hermione was mildly surprised but she beamed at him. "That's very nice. You're being more responsible. Maybe someone should always knock your head, just joking," she said quickly spotting Crookshanks' perplexed face. Ron, however, shrieked in protest.

"Is there anything wrong?" Hermione turned to Ron, brushing her fingers on his fur. Her face moved closer to his, as if examining him. He could see all the freckles on her face and noticed how brown her eyes were with perfectly curled eyelashes. He had never been this close to her and he could feel the heat his face was radiating whenever they came in close contact.

"Are you tired? You could sleep in the dormitory," she said. Ron shook his head slowly – Hermione's hazel eyes putting him in a trance. Why hadn't he noticed before that they were so – _enchanting_?

"Pumpkin Pasties," Ron heard Harry said and the Fat Lady's portrait swung open. They climbed inside the portrait hole and saw that the common room was still packed with students. Nobody noticed that they arrived; everyone was busy with their own businesses. They occupied the table they used earlier – their books still scattered on top of it.

"Hermione, could I borrow your notes in History of Magic?" Harry asked. Hermione handed her pile of notes reluctantly, mumbling incoherently about not taking notes when it was really important for their future.

Everybody except Hermione started rummaging their bags for extra parchments and quills. Crookshanks looked at his quill as if he had never seen one before. Ron meowed wildly – he couldn't let Crookshanks devastate his academics. How could he do his homework when he didn't even know how to use a quill? To Ron's surprise Crookshanks started scribbling, constantly checking his book for certain facts.

Ron doubted Crookshanks could do his homework properly so he leapt from Hermione's arms halfheartedly and jumped on the table, peering on Crookshanks' work. Ron tripped and fell down at the sight of Crookshanks' work. Luckily, thanks to cat's reflex, he landed on his feet smoothly and didn't get any scratch at all. It was unbelievable - Crookshanks was doing the essay as perfectly as Hermione!

He stared at Crookshanks, trying to catch his eye, but he was too absorbed in doing the essay. Hermione, who didn't notice that she wasn't holding him anymore, was reading her Arithmancy book. Ron wondered when did Crookshanks get this intelligent. _He was Hermione's cat after all._ But the idea that a cat was better than him was very insulting.

How did this happen anyway? Ron had a sneaking suspicion that Crookshanks knew how this strange thing occurred. So he spent his time jumping on Crookshanks' lap and scratching him, trying to get his attention. But Crookshanks was acting like he was invisible and continued scribbling. Ron's fur was all standing up in fury. He wanted to poke Crookshanks' eye but remembered that that was his real eye. So he resorted to growling noisily at him and scratching his robes.

"Crookshanks, stop pestering Ron!" Hermione barked indignantly and she took him back on her arms. "Don't mind him Ron, I guess he's just tired," she explained hastily, afraid that it might start another fight. Crookshanks just shrugged and continued scribbling. Hermione was relieved at his reaction but wondered where did his ill-tempered manner go.

Hermione put Ron on her lap and grabbed her book again. Ron was about to jump but Hermione hold him back. "Just stay here and be a good little boy, okay," and she barricaded his way with her book.

"At last," Crookshanks sighed, pulling his roll of parchment towards him so as to reread what he had written. Ron noticed that he wasn't stammering anymore.

"You're finished already?" Harry asked, who still had an inch left in his History of Magic homework. Crookshanks just nodded. Hermione put Ron down and walked over to Crookshanks.

"Hmmm, all the facts are correct," said Hermione. She was standing behind Crookshanks and reading the essay. "In fact, you wrote better this time. I think you don't need my help at all." Ron saw Crookshanks blush and the sight made him flinched.

"Are you through with History of Magic?" Hermione asked. Crookshanks stared obliviously at her but Ron nodded attentively. Crookshanks took the hint and nodded at Hermione too.

"That's good. How about you Harry?"

"I'm down to my last sentence," Harry muttered, "There!"

"I'm through too," Ginny said and Ron tripped when he heard her voice. He forgot that Ginny and Neville were there.

"I'm not through yet," Neville grumbled, looking at his half-finished essay. "You guys could go ahead, this will take long."

"If you say so," Harry muttered, yawning openly. "I'm going to bed." The others were sleepy too and they left Neville alone on the table after muttering good night's. Ron, however, was still wide-awake and wasn't sleepy at all but he still followed Harry on the boy's dormitory.

"Crookshanks, where are you going?" Hermione called. She grabbed him and climbed the girl's staircase. Ron's heart throbbed horribly. He forgot that Crookshanks was sleeping WITH Hermione. Crookshanks seemed to forget that thing too for Ron saw him walking behind Hermione before realizing that he was supposed to go with Harry, hastily changing route.

Ron's face turned scarlet. He was now facing the prospect of sleeping with a girl. He barely heard Ginny saying goodbye to Hermione and his heart beat faster as Hermione opened the door.****

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	3. Good Night, Sleep Tight

CUDDLESOME CAT-ASTROPHE 

by squidward

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**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Harry Potter.

**A/N:** Again, thank you for the nice reviews: artemisgirl, RussellGrl15, isnani, updated updater of updatedly updated updates(LOLZ!!! I love you name! I will never downDATE and I'll be happy to be your prom update, as long as you're a guy coz I'm a gurl),Pullmanlover(Crookshanks can talk because being inside a human's body enabled him to do human activities),Trym, airhead14(blush I'm so touched! Sorry if the previous one is short),tsk tsk, colin, Vals(confusing eh? Sorry about that, but just like what I said before, you guys are smart enough to know who is who.), TigerLily130, T and Persephone'schild.

SORRY for the late update and the short chapter! My PC had gone bonkers and a gigantic writer's block just hit me – straight on the face! I'll update the next chap soon and it will be longer in return. I just saw POA and it wasn't good as I expected...

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**Chapter III: Good Night, Sleep Tight **__

Ron gulped when the doorknob clicked and the door opened. His heart was throbbing dangerously fast. _This was the girl's dormitory_. And he would not just sneak inside it tonight - he would be sleeping with one of its occupants tonight! If Ron was in his original body he would surely turn into a perfect redhead, complete with fiery red hair and burning scarlet face. But he was now inside Crookshanks' body whose orange fur never changed color in relation to the soul's emotion.

Hermione entered the room and Ron hung petrified on her arms. He was too nervous and shock to move. His mind raced. Should he run away and just sleep at the common room or should he just stay in Hermione's arms this night? Ron thought the former was the most decent act, but the latter was undeniably appealing. Ron shook his head vigorously. _For Merlin's sake, this is your bestfriend!_

"Are you not feeling well, honey?" Hermione asked when she felt Ron shook his head. Ron's blood rushed on his face. _Honey_… Hermione sounded that they were a couple but remembered that she was referring to Crookshanks and not him.

Ron was surprised to see that they had already entered the room. It was like the boy's dormitory - a circular room with five four-posters – though it was neater and had this distinct girlish aura. It seemed that Hermione's roommates were already asleep - Ron could hear soft snores from his spot.

Hermione pulled the curtains of her four-poster and put Ron on the bed. "Just stay there," she whispered and started rummaging her trunk. Ron watched her blankly, clueless on what she might be up to. Then he almost died of shock when he saw her pulling a nightdress.

_She was going to change._

Ron couldn't decide if it was his heart beating in an alarming rate or his breath getting shallower and shallower that would lead him to an early death. Why hadn't he expected this? She would not sleep in her school robes of course – she HAD to change. His face was burning again and it almost burst when Hermione started undressing her robes.

Feeling as though he was caught red-handed for committing a hideous crime, Ron hurriedly scampered away and jumped into a dark corner, his back facing Hermione. He was breathing hard and he was even starting to sweat. He stared nervously at the wall, hoping against hope that Hermione would not grab him with only a bra on her top.

Luckily (or was it really lucky? – he doubt it), Hermione didn't notice that he left the bed until she was fully dressed. She spotted him without difficulty and grabbed him again.

"Oh my, you're shaking! Are you sick baby?" she asked worriedly as she sat on her bed. Ron was indeed shaking madly like a delirious old man. Hermione was stroking his fur gently and the contact made him nervous all the more.

"I guess you're very tired. Let's just sleep and tomorrow you'll be okay," Hermione lifted him to her eye level and kissed him – on the lips. She smiled and put him into a tight embrace before putting the blanket over them.

Ron could hear his heartbeat very clearly as if he was listening to a radio. It was beating like mad. _Hermione just kissed him!_ And she kissed him _on the lips_! His face was now resting on her chest and he couldn't move because she was cuddling him too tight. Ron felt his insides leave his body and the scent of the perfume he gave her made the matter worse – she smelled so nice he wanted to stay there forever. He tried to loosen her tight grip but his efforts were futile, probably because a part of him didn't really want to leave her at all. A part of him was actually enjoying the situation.

His face went warm, feeling guilty. He would be declared as the most perverted guy in the whole wide world for doing this. But what could he do? He didn't force her into this, didn't he? So it wasn't entirely his fault.

_'But if you have the slightest decency in your body you will leave her,'_ the objective and sensible voice in his head said.

_'I'm not in my body, remember?'_ he retorted angrily, having a stupid idea that he left every bits of his decency in his physical body. But he knew that getting out of the dormitory was the best thing to do.

So Ron made up his mind. He looked up at Hermione's face for the last time. She was sleeping peacefully and disturbing her serenity would be the most gruesome felony to commit. Watching her like this would be enough to make him alive for a month without food. But taking advantage of her unawareness was against his will too so he carefully struggled out of her loosening embrace, jumped to the floor and darted to the door.

He went down to the common room and climbed on the nearest sofa. He saw Neville yawning openly and closed the boy's dormitory door. He thought that he could sleep to the boy's dormitory but decided against it – he had a strong feeling that it was not a good idea at all. His heartbeat and breathing started to normalize. _Hermione is dangerous to my health_, he thought absently. He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling that he was thrown wandless in the girl's dormitories to fight a hungry Hungarian Horntail.

He opened his eyes again and stared blankly on the ceiling, contemplating on what had happened to him. The fact that he and Crookshanks switched bodies was settled, he was sure about it. Crookshanks was aware of the situation too. But how did it happen? He couldn't think of anything that might cause this accident. Worse, he couldn't ask for Harry's or Hermione's help because he couldn't speak any human language. _If Hermione learned about this she will probably kill me first before she will decide to help me, _he thought. So everything was depending on Crookshanks now…

But what if Crookshanks didn't want to help? He seemed to be enjoying himself and Ron swore he fancied Hermione. '_So he is the real pervert then, sleeping with her all this years!'_ he thought angrily, furious at the fact that that silly cat was 'harassing' his bestfriend.

_You're just jealous because you're not the one sleeping with her,_ a mischievous voice in his mind blurted.

_'Shut up!' _Ron roared loudly and heard himself let out an angry meow. He didn't want to have lustful thoughts about Hermione though he was not a hypocrite to deny that he didn't have. But it was a boy's instinct. He was trying hard to get rid of it – his true personality didn't want to lust for her. Hermione was chaste and modest in his perception, and that would remain like that forever. He felt guilty for having naughty thoughts about her, but he couldn't help that. He was a boy, and Hermione was so damn cute you couldn't resist that feeling.

The memory of their kiss flashed in his mind. Her lips were so soft he could still feel the sensation. He realized that his paw was touching the spot she kissed and he smiled to himself. He had felt this way before – when he was in fifth year and Hermione kissed him on the cheek. It was amusing to know that the girl who induced that feeling one year ago was one and the same.

Ron's eyes were dropping and he felt sleepy. This day was very tiring and he needed to rest. Who knows, maybe this was just a dream and next day he would wake up wearing his pajamas - back to his own body. '_But if it wasn't, I had to talk to that bloody cat tomorrow._' He hoped Crookshanks could understand feline language before his eyes stick together.

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	4. Tete a tete

**CUDDLESOME CAT-ASTROPHE **

by squidward

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**A/N:** My sincerest thanks to the following: artemisgirl, HeBa, RussellGrl, AngelicFairy, Mrs. CPT, Persephone's-child, airhead14, Angul-gurl, NinnyWeasley, Crystal, TigerLily130, On-A-Rainy-Day, Katsumi-Leostar, rosesinbloom, mastercreater, and Willa. One of you has been very sharp to note how long this thing would last, and this chap will explain it.

Bet you lot already saw PoA. Just like what I said before, it wasn't really good, but PoA is certainly better than the previous HP movies. And those RH moments… we were squealing in delight while watching it!

And just as promised, here comes a longer a chappie.

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Harry Potter.

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**Chapter IV: Tête-à-tête**

The footsteps of people filling the common room woke Ron up. He was lying on a sofa - eyes bloodshot and baggy, his face contorted. The noise annoyed him greatly for it disturbed his restfulness. He brushed his whiskers angrily and growled loudly at a first year that was clumsily passing by. The first year shrieked and ran, terrified, out of the portrait hole.

Ron's bad mood persisted, and it worsened when he heard the grumbling in his stomach. He hadn't eaten anything yet since yesterday night and last night's events used up all his energy. He looked up expectantly at the boy's dormitory, praying that Harry would already come down. With all the weird things that had happened, it was his company that he needed the most. Hermione was his bestfriend, he was perfectly aware of that, but there were times that boys only wanted a boy's company.

Finally he saw Harry climbing down the staircase. At first he felt delighted, but his happiness vanished quickly as he had felt it. Harry wouldn't understand him. It would be useless to talk to him because Harry would just be listening to his meows and growls and would no sooner understand him than confess his undying love for Snape.

But Ron's rapt attention didn't wear off. Behind Harry was Crookshanks – wide-eyed and fully awake, a perfect opposite of Dean, who was walking beside Seamus and was yawning openly with eyes half-shut. Watching Crookshanks amidst the sea of drowsing people gave Ron the impression that he was awake the whole night.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron jumped in surprise when he heard Harry's voice. Harry looked at him as if waiting for an answer and Crookshanks was watching the scene with great interest. It irritated Ron for a moment but felt that it was better to see Crookshanks watching him with that expression that to see him smirking menacingly.

"Oh, Harry, good morning." It was Hermione. She darted to Ron and grabbed him, making Ron blush. "And Ron," she added, turning to Crookshanks who just gave a grateful nod. Hermione watched him incredulously for a moment before turning back to Harry. "You weren't bullying my cat, weren't you?"

"That's a false accusation," said Harry, smirking. Hermione beamed.

"I thought Ron turned over to you the task of harassing my poor Crookshanks," she said jokingly, peering behind Harry to watch Crookshanks reaction. Crookshanks looked at Hermione blankly and Hermione laughed at the look on his face. Ron, however, growled and scratched the air angrily, looking very stupid.

_'You don't have to sound that I'm torturing your stupid cat!'_ Ron thought furiously.

"Let's just go down then, Crookshanks is starving," Harry pointed and Ron's face went warm again.

"You didn't feed him last night," Crookshanks piped, which took Ron and Hermione by surprise.

"How did you now that?" Hermione asked curiously. Ron was watching Crookshanks with the same expression as Hermione's but Crookshanks just answered them with an air logical and rational thinker that didn't suit Ron's physical body.

"Well, you were looking after me in the hospital wing last night and when we went back here I didn't see you feeding him. And he was pestering me all the time while I'm doing the essay," he explained as they walked out of the portrait hole.

"Goes to show you are the one 'harassing' him instead," Harry chuckled. Hermione elbowed Harry playfully. "News to me that you actually cared for Crookshanks," she mumbled. Ron nodded in agreement.

"It doesn't mean that _I_ cared," Crookshanks said defiantly. "I'm just deducing things from all the facts presented."

Harry snorted and Hermione and Ron eyed Crookshanks skeptically. "And when did you start playing Sherlock Holmes?"

"Who's Sherlock Holmes?" asked Crookshanks and Ron in unison, though Ron only managed a grumbling meow.

"He's a master detective from Muggle books. You should start reading some if you wanted to pursue that career," Hermione suggested in tone that he should not take what she said seriously. Crookshanks just shrugged and Harry laughed, but Ron noticed that Crookshanks was considering Hermione's suggestion.

They reached the Great Hall and filled their stomach rather quieter than they did on their way there. It wasn't that Harry despised peace and harmony but the fact that 'Ron' was behaving more civil than usual was quite disturbing. He glanced at Hermione and the look on her face told him that she was wondering the same thing. Harry remembered Hermione's joke to 'Ron', _'Maybe someone should always knock your head'_ and resisted the temptation of repeating it to them.

Ron, who was actually expectant to go down for breakfast, was feeling very sulky. There he was, starving, assuming that Hermione would give him enough nourishment and so he would strut out of the Great Hall with stomach full. Instead, a small bowl full of milk was placed under his nose. Ron felt Hermione's hand patting his head and it annoyed him greatly – she was depriving him from the food he should be eating.

"He looks grumpy, maybe you should give him some beacon," Crookshanks suggested without taking his eyes off his food.

"What?" asked Hermione, confusion painted all over her face.

"I'm referring to your pet," Crookshanks replied in the same tone. Ron listened to the conversation with baffled expression. Harry was doing the same.

"Ron, are you sure you're okay? Did you catch a fever or something?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"No, why did you ask?"

"'Cause you're being unusually, er, oh never mind," Hermione shook her head and placed the plate of beacon before Ron. Ron gave Crookshanks a puzzled look but the grumbling in his stomach told him that he should set aside his questions for a while and just dive on the plate. And dive on the plate he did.

Hermione, Harry and Crookshanks watched Ron ate the beacon hungrily. "I told you, he's starving," Crookshanks remarked. He took Harry and Hermione's astounded expressions as an agreement.

After finishing their breakfast Harry, Hermione, Crookshanks and Ron went out of the Great Hall. Hermione told them that she would just bring 'Crookshanks' in their dormitory and would be back shortly, but Crookshanks offered to bring him instead.

"I left my book in the dormitory so I'll just bring him with me," he explained hastily, watching their suspicious faces. "You don't mind if I'll just leave him in the common room?" he turned to Hermione and she nodded.

Crookshanks took Ron and dashed to the Gryffindor tower. Ron was shrieking wildly, suspecting that Crookshanks would do something nasty to him. Crookshanks chose to ignore him. When they reached the common room and found it deserted, Crookshanks sat on the nearest sofa and put Ron down.

"What's the point of shrieking like that?" Crookshanks spat. Ron was glaring at him and his furs were standing up.

"Look, I don't have much time. The class will start in twenty minutes so behave yourself," Crookshanks said diplomatically. Ron looked at him warily and hesitated if he should try to talk to him. Crookshanks, who seemed to read his mind, started, "Don't worry, I can understand you, you can talk to me."

But Ron did not believe him. He was standing five feet away from Crookshanks, fearing that he would strangle him anytime. Crookshanks eyed him impatiently. "Stop acting like a brat, okay! I'm here to explain what _happened_."

Ron stared at Crookshanks with utmost bewilderment. He searched his face for any sign of dishonesty, but found none. _'What is this all about?'_

Incomprehensible meows were the only sound Ron let out and he winced. How on Earth could Crookshanks understand him?

"I told you, I could understand what you are saying. You asked 'what is this all about', right?" Ron's eyes widened. Crookshanks could really understand him! Questions started to flood his mind and all wanted to be asked.

'Did you know what happened to us? Why is it that you can understand me? How did I turn up in your body? How can I go back? How-'

"Let me just do the talking first, okay. I'll answer those later," said Crookshanks. He took a deep breath before starting again. "Our precious three minutes has been wasted," he muttered, glancing at his (Ron's) watch. "Please refrain yourself from interrupting me if you don't want your physical body late for classes."

Ron closed his mouth reluctantly and chose to listen. "That's better. I'll answer the second question you asked – _I know what happened to us_," he paused to look at Ron and when he saw that he was still paying attention he continued, "It's an ancient magic, and I'm sure Mistress Hermione didn't really mean it."

Ron didn't know if he should laugh or get mad. He wasn't used to hear someone calling Hermione 'Mistress'. Crookshanks took no notice and continued.

"When you and my Mistress were fighting, she cast an ancient spell on us without knowing it. Not that she didn't know the nature of this spell of course, she was the brightest with I've ever met. She was just too occupied to notice that we already switched bodies," Crookshanks sighed.

_'An ancient spell?'_ Ron asked with confusion. He was getting a little impatient. Crookshanks, who was telling him earlier that they should hurry up, hadn't arrived yet to the proper explanation because he was busy defending Hermione's innocence.

"Yeah, an ancient spell," Crookshanks replied attentively. Ron was strongly of Hermione answering a teacher's question in class. "I assume that you know the nature of most ancient magic. No wands needed. And like most ancient magic, what happened to us was one of those nameless spells."

_'When did she do it?'_ Ron asked, slightly annoyed that Crookshanks explained something that he already knew.

"Well, when you and my Mistress (Ron flinched again) were fighting, do you remember her saying that you and I should swap places sometime?"

The memory flashed in Ron's mind and caught Hermione's exact words, _'__I wish you and Crookshanks swap places for a day, that will tell you how horrible you've been treating him!'_

_'You mean she actually cursed us when she said that?'_ Ron asked, his voice shaking.

"Yes and no. Just like what I said before, my Mistress didn't really mean to curse us. But what happened next was the reason her words turned into a spell."

_'But I was unconscious after that!'_

"Exactly. And I was unconscious too. My Mistress's grip became too tight that I passed out," Crookshanks winced, embarrassed that Hermione's embrace knocked him down. "We became unconscious _at the same time_, thus sealing her magic."

Ron looked fearfully at Crookshanks, flabbergasted. _'D-does i-it mean th-that we'll b-be like th-this – _forever_?'_

"Of course not!" Crookshanks barked angrily. "I thought you remembered her exact words. Didn't she say _'for a day'_?"

At this, Ron's eyes glistened. _'So by the end of the day we will be back to normal!'_

Crookshanks fidgeted and looked away from him. He looked hesitant in replying, but he still answered Ron, "Er, we will, if – _and only if_ – a memory from the past will happen again before the day ends."

_'What do you mean?'_

"A memory from the past involving the one who cast the spell and the one who was cursed must happen again before the said time runs out. Since my Mistress was talking to _you_ when she did the magic, the chosen past memory that should be reenacted will be yours."

_'And what if we didn't make it before the day ends?'_

"Then, I'm afraid, our souls will be trapped in these bodies forever." Crookshanks gave Ron a dark look and Ron gulped. He wasn't expecting the whole thing to be so serious.

_'T-trapped, fo-forever? I will be a cat forever!'_ Ron cried frightfully. Crookshanks, however, was mumbling something about not being a full cat, but Ron didn't care about what he was saying. He would never come back in his body if they failed to reenact the memory.

"That's why we have to cooperate with each other. Or else…"

_'Are you sure you're going to help? You seem to be enjoying your 'human experience'!'_ Ron spat, desperation and hopelessness conquering him.

"Huh! As if I would prefer to live as Ron Weasley for the rest of my life! I vowed to serve my Mistress forever as her pet, and this magic will never break that. Aren't you the one who was enjoying the situation, with my Mistress cuddling you all the time?" Crookshanks said dramatically, making him sound like a house-elf. Ron became ferocious all of a sudden.

'What do you mean "enjoying the situation"?! I don't think of Hermione like that, you stupid scoundrel! You are the one sleeping with her all these years! How dare you accuse me when you're the one who has been a pervert all along!'

"Are you telling me that I had been lusting for her? Very stupid," Crookshanks shook his head. He was still very composed and seemed unaffected. "Only humans feel that. Lust is an unknown emotion for beasts or for any animal for that matter."

Ron was still glaring at him. Crookshanks glanced at his watch again. "We don't have time to argue, the time is running. We should also refrain from fighting if we want to get back to our respective bodies."

Grudgingly, Ron nodded. He didn't have any choice anyway. Crookshanks beamed at him. "Now, you have to choose a past memory involving you and my Mistress. The first thing that will come in your mind will be one we have to consider."

Ron closed his eyes. _A memory involving him and Hermione._ There were loads but only the first one that would occur to him would be essential. He concentrated, searching his mind. Then a memory flashed in his mind – Hermione's face coming closer, her soft lips touching his…

He opened his eyes, looking aghast. Of all the memories he had with her, why it _had_ to be that kiss? He turned his trembling gaze to Crookshanks.

"Have a memory in mind now?" Ron nodded slowly. "Good. Now listen to me first. You have to keep that memory for yourself - don't tell me about it. I will be the one reenacting that memory, as I'm the one residing in your physical body. Now this is important – if you tell me what memory is that everything will be useless and we will be stuck in each other's body forever."

_'What?! Why didn't you tell it earlier?!'_ Ron cried.

Crookshanks raised his brows. "Why? Any problem with the memory you chose?"

'Big problem,' Ron thought. Hermione only kissed him because she thought he was Crookshanks and there was no way she would kiss the Crookshanks in his body. _'Why don't we just tell this to Hermione, she might have other solutions for this.'_

Crookshanks snickered. "Sure about that suggestion? Of course it would be the most practical way. I thought of that first but I decided to hide it from my Mistress in the end so as to save your neck. What do you think she'll do if she found out that you actually slept with her last night?"

_'I didn't sleep with her!'_ Ron roared defensively, blood rushing on his face.

"Trying to be modest now, aren't we? But she was carrying you in her arms all night. You have been resting on her chest without her knowing. It was clear that you are taking advantage of her ignorance. You'll be dead meat if she finds out…"

_'Alright, I got your point!'_ Ron yelled, his face livid. He took a deep breath before continuing. _'And what am I suppose to do in this? You said we need to cooperate.'_

"Yeah, we really need to. Since you shouldn't tell me the chosen memory you just have to help me do it without telling me what to do."

_'What?! And how am I going to do that?'_

"You can drop hints, or set us up. Anything but telling me."

_'Can't you just guess what that memory is?'_

Crookshanks shot him a meaningful look and Ron felt that he was reading his mind. "Honestly, I can guess but I couldn't ask you to confirm it. But from the look on your face I think I already got it," Crookshanks smirked mischievously and Ron's face went warm.

_'H-how d-did y-you find o-out th-this stupid spell, anyway?'_ Ron grumbled, desperate for a change of topic.

"My kind knows a great deal of things," Crookshanks said proudly. Ron frowned. Working with Crookshanks would be harder than he thought.

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	5. To Help Or Not To Help

**CUDDLESOME CAT-ASTROPHE **

by squidward

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**A/N:** Many thanks to the following: artemisgirl, ddrinki4, Trym, On-A-Rainy-Day, isnani, RussellGrl15, AngelicFairy, doriansportrait, TiggerLily130, Crystal, Angulgurl, Persephone's-child, Weasley, loonygrl90, trixie009, RonLuver2005, Fugitive, Shieldmaiden of Rohan, Ngayon, AkashaWeasley, airhead14, Hydrangea777, Colin, AnnaAnother, SwishyWillowWand, Amy-Chris and buterfly9999. You lot keeps me going! Another thanks to Ngayon and AkashaWeasley for reviewing IMMLPE.

Sorry, sorry, sorry and again, sorry for the ridiculously late update. I've been very busy with school and I'm still adjusting with my new schedule. And when I say I'm adjusting I mean I spend most of my time sleeping. I envy you lot whose term starts every September…

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Harry Potter.

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**Chapter V: To Help Or Not To Help**

_'You're not an ordinary cat, weren't you?'_ Ron grumbled. The fact that Crookshanks knew too many things was very suspicious. Cats, even those that were magical, couldn't be that intelligent. Then a thought hit him and he looked at Crookshanks tremblingly. _'Don't tell me you're actually an Animagus!'_

Crookshanks, however, just snorted. "Of course I'm not! If I am then you wouldn't turn up in that body! You would be trapped in a human's body instead!"

_'But cats can't know that much! Even if those cats belong to Hermione!'_ Ron cried in exasperation. Crookshanks just shook his head patiently, as if restraining himself from retorting to something stupidly obvious. But Ron continued to survey him through narrowed eyes, preparing himself in case Crookshanks would attack him for unveiling his nasty secret. When Crookshanks pulled out something from his bag, Ron jumped backwards, doubling the distance between them. He glared at him angrily, ready to evade anything that he would throw on him.

"What's with that behavior?" Crookshanks snapped irritably. He was now holding Ron's copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them_.

_'Don't dare hit me with that book, I'm warning you!'_ Ron roared and the furs on his back were standing up in fury.

"Books are not made to be thrown, they are made to be read," Crookshanks said haughtily. He opened the book, as if searching for something and when he found what he was looking for he thrust the book under Ron's nose. Ron looked at the book bemusedly and read the part Crookshanks was pointing at.

_Kneazle: The kneazle was original bred in Britain, though it is now exported worldwide. A small cat-like creature with flecked, speckled, or spotted fur, outsize ears and a tail like a lion's, the Kneazle is intelligent, independent, and occasionally aggressive, though if it takes a liking to a witch or wizard, it makes an excellent pet. The Kneazle has an uncanny ability to detect unsavory or suspicious characters and can be relied upon to guide its owner safely home if they are lost. Kneazles have up to eight kittens in a litter and can interbreed with cats. Licenses are required for ownership as Kneazles are sufficiently unusual in appearance to attract Muggle interest. _

_'A-are you, d-don't t-tell me… you're a kneazle?!'_ Ron cried in amazement.

"Half-kneazle, as I don't have those spotted fur, outsize ears and lion's tail," Crookshanks replied through gritted teeth. Apparently, he was insulted that Ron still didn't get what kind of creature exactly he was when the book had already told everything on his face. "Honestly, you should have learned that by now since you were using this book since you were in first year!"

_'Hermione didn't know about this either! She could have told us if she did!' _Crookshanks ignored his last comment and glared furiously at him instead. Just then they heard the portrait hole swinging and footsteps approaching.

"Ron?" Hermione asked in a small voice. She looked from Ron to Crookshanks, her face mildly surprised. "I went here to check on you. What is taking you so long? Harry said he'll wait for us in the classroom and save us seats."

"Well, er, I'm looking for this book you see. It took most of my time, I thought I lost it forever," Crookshanks said and he laughed nervously. Ron stared at Hermione and he knew she didn't believe him. They would not be having a Care of Magical Creatures class until next week. Ron expected her to point that thing out but to his surprise, she just shrugged.

"You just have to take care of your books then. At first I thought you're fighting with Crookshanks again, I thought I saw you two _talking_," Hermione stressed her last word exaggeratedly. Crookshanks stared at her nervously.

"Oh," he then gave a hollow laugh. "I asked him to help me look for it actually." Hermione raised her brows. Crookshanks turned slightly red and explained hastily, "I thought I could do with some help. He's not being useful to us anyway so I thought I let him do something this time."

Hermione hooted indignantly but Ron noticed that she was smiling. Perhaps she was relieved that his answer was somewhat 'normal'. "And here I was, thinking that you were actually _fraternizing with your enemy_," she teased. Crookshanks looked blankly at her while Ron's face went hot.

"I guess we have to go down then," Crookshanks broke after gathering himself, "we don't want to be late for our next class."

"Yeah, you'd be missing half of your life if you're late for Professor Binns's lecture," Hermione replied promptly but Crookshanks missed the sarcasm. He glanced sideways at Ron, giving him a meaningful look. Ron couldn't decipher what was that about but knew it was highly important so he made to follow them out of the common room.

"Crookshanks, don't follow us," Hermione mumbled softly. She walked to Ron and put him on her hands. She rubbed her nose to his before stroking his fur and putting him down again. Ron's stomach flipped while Crookshanks decided not to watch them.

"Just let him do what he wants, we'll be late," Crookshanks grunted, still not looking at them. Hermione didn't raise any argument and just put Ron down, looking as though she hadn't heard Crookshanks last words.

Hermione ran to his side, sighing that her 'cat' was still following them but decided to leave him alone. Her mind was focused on her 'cat' when, to her and Ron's surprise, Crookshanks slipped his hand into hers. He did this so casually as though he was doing this everyday, which made it more surprising. Hermione looked scandalized for a moment but didn't pull away. Her face was a mixture of so many emotions Ron could have found it extremely funny if he wasn't feeling particularly furious at the situation.

He ran hurriedly after them, stretching his claws to desperately attack Crookshanks. '_How could he!'_ he thought crossly.He was jumping and scratching the back of his robes, but Crookshanks was ignoring him like a common mosquito. Hermione seemed oblivious to his attacks too, for she was still looking at Crookshanks with shock and confusion, her face blatantly telling that she battling herself whether pulling her hand away would be rude or not.

Ron was completely ignored he realized all his efforts were futile and just contented himself with glaring at their intertwined fingers. He was so infuriated it took him many minutes to realize that Crookshanks was already beginning his attempt to guess his 'chosen memory'. Although he already knew that Crookshanks was doing this for them, he still couldn't stop himself from hating him.

But when Ron thought that that was the only shocker Crookshanks had in stored for them, he was wrong. To his surprise, and displeasure, Crookshanks hold Hermione still, looked at her face for a moment and ran his long fingers on her cheek! Hermione and Ron stared at Crookshanks with stunned expressions but it was Hermione who recovered first.

"R-Ron, wha-what are y-you d-doing?" she stammered with difficulty, her eyes fixed on Crookshanks expressionless face. Her cheeks were acquiring a deep shade of scarlet and her ears were turning pink.

"You have something on your cheek, I'm just trying remove i-" but Crookshanks wasn't able to continue, for at that instant Ron threw himself on him, bit his leg and pierced his teeth deeply on his skin.

Crookshanks (or anybody for that matter) holding Hermione's hand as if they were a couple was annoying, yet Ron could let it pass, especially if it was intended to bring him back to his original body. But Crookshanks (or anybody for that matter again) touching Hermione's cheek was way too appalling and was absolutely unforgivable, even if it was intended to bring him back to his original body. Whether it was instinct or something that he still couldn't understand at that moment he didn't care, he just wanted to attack Crookshanks, to hurt him, and, if possible, to kill him.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione squealed and she pulled Ron away from Crookshanks. It had been hard work for Hermione because Ron seemed to not have any intentions of removing his mouth on Crookshanks' leg, completely forgetting that that was actually his physical body that he was hurting. Crookshanks leapt away, clutching his bleeding leg.

"Oh Ron, I – I don't know, Crookshanks was-" but they didn't hear what 'Crookshanks' was because Hermione's voice was drowned by a rampage of second years hurrying for their class. Hermione backed away to let them pass, too preoccupied to shout at them. Crookshanks was still clutching his leg but his face was straight and was not even wincing. Ron was struggling out of Hermione's arms, growling loudly.

"I'm okay, don't worry. My clothes absorbed most of the impact. It's just minor bleeding," Crookshanks stated calmly as though explaining the characteristics of Jupiter's moons. Crookshanks acting cool made Ron angrier.

"I'm really sorry about this Ron," Hermione said, gently putting Ron down, placing him away from Crookshanks. She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wrapped it on Crookshanks wound. Ron was still growling loudly on the background but was not doing anything violent anymore.

He and Crookshanks caught each other's eyes while Hermione was busy patching up the wound on Crookshanks legs. They glared at each other for a moment but quickly broke away when Hermione was finished.

"I think it's not that fatal, but you should still visit Madam Pomfrey," said Hermione.

"Yeah, but not now. I don't want to miss a class," Crookshanks replied, "let's just hurry." Hermione nodded slowly but she was staring at Crookshanks like she had never seen him before. Ron knew what she was thinking – here was a ready-made excuse to skip Professor Binns's never cheerful lecture but he didn't grab it.

Crookshanks turned on his heel and motioned Hermione to follow. Hermione didn't move first, staring at Crookshanks with utmost disbelief. But after a few seconds she shook her head, looked at Ron with worried eyes and followed Crookshanks. Ron followed then stealthily and was still glaring at Crookshanks back. When they reached the classroom Crookshanks stopped.

"Mistr-, I mean, Hermione, you go ahead, I'll just fix this," he said, pointing at his wound. Hermione showed sign that she would fix it instead but Crookshanks shook his head dismissively. "Just go. This will just take a second."

Hermione looked at him anxiously but entered the room. Ron came closer to Crookshanks, his eyes still giving him dagger looks. Crookshanks knelt down, pretending to fix Hermione's handkerchief but was actually glaring angrily at Ron.

"What did you do that for?!" they both hissed angrily.

"I should be the only one asking that!" Crookshanks snarled.

_'Don't you ever touch her again!'_ Ron bellowed.

"And don't act like a stupid prat again, Weasley," Crookshanks breathed angrily, "You're not helping!" He gave him one last glare before walking inside the classroom. Ron glowered at him until he was out of sight. __

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	6. Suspiciously Suspicious

**CUDDLESOME CAT-ASTROPHE **

by squidward

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**A/N: **Folks, I'm really very sorry if I'm updating pretty late these days. Damn schoolworks! But don't worry, I haven't forgotten this fic and I'll try my best to update sooner next time. If you wanted to know the current status of my fanfics you could check my blog that I purposely created for fanfic updates (the link is in my profile page). Btw, thanks to all those great people who reviewed the previous chap!

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Harry Potter.

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**Chapter VI: Suspiciously Suspicious**__

"What took you so long?" Harry demanded. He glanced from Hermione's worried face to Crookshanks's wounded leg and realized that he should have asked 'what happened' instead.

"Just some annoying business with her cat," Crookshanks replied coolly. Harry raised his brows and turned to Hermione, who turned crimson just in time.

"Well, Crookshanks was not feeling well and for some reasons, he, er, attacked Ron," Hermione explained sheepishly. Harry waited for a retaliation insisting that the cat had been mad all along but it didn't come. Instead what he heard was a soft scrambling and after a few seconds saw Crookshanks holding a quill and a parchment, looking very prepared to take down notes.

"What's up with him?" Hermione heard Harry whispered to her but she was spared from answering when Professor Binns came out from the blackboard and told them to pass their homeworks.

Harry, Hermione and Crookshanks sat quietly, listening (in Harry's case, drifting) into Professor Binns' monotonous voice. Crookshanks was listening raptly at the lecture. He was hanging on Professor Binns' every word as if his life depended on it.

Hermione, trying hard to concentrate, couldn't help but notice this absurd behavior. _Ron was acting unexplainably strange_, she thought. She chanced a glimpse at Harry, who was staring longingly at the window, and planned to ask him if he knew something. But she quickly dismissed the idea when she realized that it had to involve her telling him what had happened between her and 'Ron' moments ago.

Exactly what was keeping her from telling Harry, she didn't know. What happened earlier seemed to be too private to share even to her other bestfriend. _Lucky it was only Crookshanks who witnessed it_, she thought with relief and her eyes landed at the doorway where Ron was still standing, glaring furiously at their direction. She looked frantically at Crookshanks, as if he would explode if he saw her cat there, but he was too engrossed in taking down notes it seemed that everything was oblivious to him. Hermione gave up on that thought, mentally cursed herself for not paying attention to the lesson and started taking down her own notes.

Harry, finally getting bored from counting the falling leaves of the nearby tree, searched the room for other interesting object to stare at. Just then he caught sight of Ron, who was unblinkingly glaring at them. He pointed this out at Hermione, but she just hissed something about leaving her cat alone and listening to the lecture.

Harry, however, continued to watch the ginger cat and noticed something funny about it. He knew that Crookshanks was grumpy and always looked like a dungbomb was placed under his nose but Harry rarely saw him this angry. He was irresistibly reminded of the Ron-in-bad-mood.

'Crookshanks' had been glaring at their direction for a very long time and Harry didn't have to be a genius to guess that that almost fatal glare was intended for 'Ron'. He looked at the red-haired figure beside him to see if he had noticed this but Crookshanks was still attentively listening to Professor Binns as if he was the most interesting teacher ever.

The hours went on without nothing more exciting happening than Seamus dropping his quill noisily, so the sixth years (except Crookshanks and Hermione) left their classroom as empty as they did when they entered it, yawning and stretching as if they had just woke up from bed.

Hermione stuffed her notes inside her huge bag, glanced furtively at her cat and sighed with relief that he was still standing there as healthy as he had been an hour and a half ago.

"Let's get going, we don't want to be late for Potions," Harry said, who, among the three of them, was the only one not putting any notes inside his bag.

"Honestly Harry, you should start taking your own notes too," Hermione muttered as she put her bag on her shoulders, "Ron has been starting to do everything on his own."

"I bet Ron just ate something funny at breakfast, didn't you-, where is he?" Harry asked and Hermione looked around to see where their redhead friend had gone.

"He's just standing there seconds ago," Hermione said. Then they heard a loud clunking noise, looked for the source of the sound and went out of the room. There stood Crookshanks, standing at the middle of the corridor as if he had waited for them to come out of the room for decades.

"Did you hear something funny?" Hermione asked. Crookshanks just shrugged.

"I thought you guys already followed me out of the room but when I looked back I saw no one but me walking on the corridor. Let's just go then," and he turned on his heel. Harry and Hermione shared significant looks and followed Crookshanks bemusedly.

When they were descending on the marble staircase Hermione noticed what was missing. Her cat was nowhere to be seen. She swore she still saw him when she was packing her notes. He couldn't have gone far from them…

HermioneWhat happened to Ron and where he was exactly was a complete mystery to his friends, as Harry and Hermione were still seeing Ron's physical body walking along with them, though Hermione was growing worried about the current whereabouts of her cat.

"Harry, have you seen Crookshanks?" Hermione whispered as they went down the dungeons for their Potions class. She was careful not to let Crookshanks hear what she was saying. She was still thinking that he was still angry with him because of the biting incident and thought that he would get more furious if he heard her looking for him.

And she was quite right. Crookshanks was so furious with Ron. So furious that he shut him up inside the nearest armor suit when Hermione and Harry had turned their backs. He took the chance when Hermione was busy putting her notes in her bag. No one was looking, so he dashed sneakily out of the room, grabbed Ron (who was too shock to react) unceremoniously and shut him inside the suit of armor. "Now I don't have to worry about you interfering with my plans," he said as he watched the armor shook slightly.

---

On the other hand, Ron was feverishly scratching the metal trapping him, furiously cursing Crookshanks. He was screeching noisily it was a miracle no one was coming to his spot to shut him up. But someone telling him off was the least of his worries. He had to escape from that place in any way possible. He tried to jump out, shaking the armor to make it fall. But the armor seemed to have a great sense of balance it only moved slightly at his every attempt to knock it down.

But the rattling inside didn't go unnoticed for after several long minutes Ron heard loud footsteps approaching. It halted, and when it did the dark inside of the armor brightened, and for the first time in his life Ron was delighted to see Filch's grouchy face greeting him.

"Who put you in there?" Filch snarled as he roughly grabbed him out of the suit. Ron meowed gratefully at him, never believing himself that he would be happy that Filch ever existed.

"Peeves wasn't it? That slimy bloke, I'll let the Headmaster know about this," and he scampered away with Mrs. Norris on his back, both looking gleeful that Peeves might be chucked out soon.

Ron, however, didn't care about anything but getting out of that metal. _That bloody half-kneazle would pay for this_, he thought angrily and he dashed down to the dungeons to get his sweet revenge…

---

The Potions class had been as normal as ever - meaning Snape was still bullying the Gryffindors mercilessly. Harry was so furious with Snape his suspicions about 'Ron's' strange behavior flew out of his mind. Hermione, on the other hand, was concentrating hard on brewing her potion, not wanting to be the subject of Snape's insults. Crookshanks was concentrating hard on his potion too, though his face was still lighted with the same academic aura he had during their History of Magic class. Clearly, he was treating Potions as normal as any other subject.

The dungeon was already filled with smokes when Ron arrived. His eyes automatically searched for his target. Without any difficulty he spotted Crookshanks, carefully stirring his potions beside Hermione, who was doing the same. Ron watched them silently, trying to control his anger from bursting. Then he saw Crookshanks offering to return her unused ingredients to the cupboard, making Hermione turn red. Ron had turned red too, though unlike Hermione it was not because of embarrassment, instead it was because of mounting fury. How he wanted to drown Crookshanks in his cauldron at that moment…

Snape's voice rang in the room, commanding everyone to pass a sample of their potions for marking. Ron hid himself in the shadows, careful not to be spotted by their vindictive professor. Then after a few more minutes the students went out of the dungeons. Malfoy, who was looking as arrogant as ever, walked passed him together with his cronies. Ron wanted to trip him but controlled himself. He was saving his energy for his vengeance.

Alas, they went out. Crookshanks was coming out of the room, carrying Hermione's extra books, with a disgruntled Harry bringing up the rear. Snape was smirking at them when they passed which made Harry angrier. Ron suspected that Snape did something foul to him again.

"Crookshanks!" Ron heard Hermione squealed and before he could turn his back Hermione's face was already brushing with his. Ron's face flushed and his stomach flipped. Hermione's warm cheek was sending an electrifying feeling on his back which was weakening his knees. He saw Crookshanks watching them with narrowed eyes.

"Where have you been? I was looking for you earlier!" she said, looking at him worriedly. Ron could still feel the heat coming out of his face but tried to focus his mind on what he had to do. Fighting the temptation to stay in Hermione's arm, he jumped out from her embrace and made his way to attack Crookshanks.

"Crookshanks, no!" Hermione screamed. She and Harry restrained the furious Ron from doing anything violent while Crookshanks was just watching them with bored expression.

"That ruddy cat is out of order. Let's just go up for lunch, I'm starving" Crookshanks said coolly and he wheeled out of the dungeons without a second look at them.

"What was that?" Harry asked confoundedly. He turned to Hermione for an explanation. Hermione's cheeks went pink and pulled Ron closer to her. Admitting that she couldn't keep the biting incident from Harry anymore, she started on telling him what had happened on their way to History of Magic class. Ron listened irritably to her narration while Hermione almost melted with embarrassment as she told Harry about Crookshanks touching her hand and cheek.

Harry, however, was seeing the incident at a very different perspective. "I noticed he was being unusually sweet to you. Do you think he wanted you to do his homework?" Hermione looked at him incredulously while Ron snorted. Harry was thicker than they expected.

"Y-yeah, probably," Hermione replied. Ron noted that there was disappointment in her voice. "But he did well on his homework yesterday, I don't think he needs my help."

Harry just shrugged and turned his attention on Ron. "He and Crookshanks are fighting more than usual today. Still furious about their little quarrel about his Potions homework?"

"I guess so," she mumbled sadly. Ron just grunted. Harry and Hermione were unaware of the real reason. They were not fighting over a rubbish Potions essay. They were fighting for a more special cause.

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	7. Aggression and Regression

**CUDDLESOME CAT-ASTROPHE **

by squidward

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**A/N: **Alas, here's the update. Sorry if it's kinda short, but I think this is all what this chappie has to be. Thanks for your warm reviews lot, and for your patience. Let's all cross our fingers that I could update sooner next time…

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Harry Potter.

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**Chapter VII: Aggression and Regression**__

"Hermione," Crookshanks started when Harry and Hermione arrived at the Gryffindor table, "Professor McGonagall told me that she wanted to see us in her office after lunch."

"Why?" Harry and Hermione asked.

"Prefect matters," Crookshanks grumbled and he turned back to his steak. Harry and Hermione took the seat on either side of Crookshanks and started eating too. Hermione placed some fish and milk in a plate and gave it to Ron, who was waiting on the floor for his food. He ate the fish with gusto, wanting to have full energy when he attacked Crookshanks again.

Crookshanks was the first one to finish his lunch, but he still remained on the table and waited for Hermione. Harry was surprised that Crookshanks only ate one serving. "Ron, are you sure you're not sick?"

"Huh? Ofcourse not. Why did you ask?"

Harry thought about it before giving an answer, wondering if telling him that he always ate a lot would be offensive, "Er, it's just that you didn't eat _much_ today."

"Really? But I'm already full. I guess I had too much for breakfast," Crookshanks replied with a slight note of nervousness. Harry had a suspicion that he was hiding something from them, for he clearly remembered that he said that he was starving when he went out of the dungeons.

"I think Professor McGonagall is already waiting for us, Ron," Hermione mumbled, craning her neck to have a better look at the staff table. She put down her fork and knife and stood up. "Harry, we'll go ahead. We will just follow in Charms."

"Yeah, see you later," Harry said.

Crookshanks waved goodbye to Harry too and followed Hermione out of the Great Hall. Ron, who was still enjoying his fish to the last bone, reluctantly put it down and ran after them.

Hermione and Crookshanks were already in the middle of the stairway when Ron saw them. Crookshanks was saying something to Hermione which, by the looks of it, was something either complicated or far-fetch because Hermione was wearing a baffled expression.

Ron, whose imagination had always gone wild whenever it involved Crookshanks and Hermione together, sprang up from his spot with dashing agility and quickly caught up with them. He tried to tail them in secret but his angry hisses betrayed him and immediately announced his presence.

Crookshanks eyed him with soaring dislike while Hermione, who was always caught in the middle in all of Ron-vs.-Crookshanks fights, was nervously watching her pet and her bestfriend.

"Oh… Croo-crookshanks," Hermione stammered, protectively grabbing Ron away from the red-haired figure standing beside her. Crookshanks just rolled his eyes and turned his back at them, making Hermione sigh in relief.

"Honey, behave yourself okay," Hermione whispered hastily, washing Ron's face with her hot, sweet breath. "I have to go to Professor McGonagall now so I'll just leave you here. Be a good boy, alright?" she affectionately beamed at him, gently put him down and hurriedly followed Crookshanks. Ron waited for his fast heartbeat and hard breathing to normalize before running after his target.

But when he finally got back to hunting mode his target was already out of sight. Ron scanned the vicinity, taking the route he and Hermione always take whenever they went to McGonagall. But there was no bushy-haired or red-haired among the thin crowd.

_'Where have they gone?'_ Ron muttered, running back and forth in the corridor. _'They can't have gone that far…'_

Ron darted to Professor McGonagall's office but he didn't see any sign of Crookshanks and Hermione. When he reached her office he tried to peak inside, but only a Minerva McGonagall sitting tartly and marking the essays was to be seen. Completely sure that Crookshanks and Hermione were not there, Ron scampered away and went back to where he started, hoping that he could catch a glimpse of his target and his bestfriend.

_'Where are they?'_ Ron cried exasperatedly. He was sure he didn't miss them, he had been running around too much and he could have met them along if they took that way.

But what if they _didn't_ take that way? Ron started to panic. It was possible. Crookshanks knew that he was after them. _But it didn't matter since they were only going to McGonagall, right? Unless…of course… unless the prefect meeting was only a blab…_

This was a trap! There was no prefect meeting all along. Crookshanks only wanted to be alone with Hermione!

_'That slimy schemer!'_ Ron muttered under his breath as he started to run around the castle again to look for them. Why hadn't he realized this earlier? _'If he's trying to touch Hermione again I'll kill him!'_ But he had left them alone together for a long time. It was not far from possible that Crookshanks had already made his move to Hermione. The thought made Ron angrier. He needed to find them right away.

Ron's hope of finding them was starting to evaporate. It might be too late. But his feet kept on running as if they had their own life. Perhaps saving Hermione was one of his basic instincts. His energy was running low and he could already feel fatigue.

When he was about to give up and resort to waiting for them in the Charms corridor, Ron found out what he was looking for. In a deserted corridor that leads to Arithmancy classrooms Ron spotted Crookshanks and Hermione. Ron's first reaction was delight, he had finally found them and his effort had somehow paid off. But when the scene started to sink in his worn out body started to fuel up with immense ferocity.

Crookshanks and Hermione were standing in a corner – in a very _dangerous_ (at least in Ron's opinion) position. They were standing too close, with Crookshanks' left hand on Hermione's waist and his right hand on her chin. Hermione's face was very red and her body was stiff. She looked tensed and confused but she wasn't pulling away as Crookshanks' face inched closer and closer to hers…

Then everything happened in a flash. Ron dashed towards them with a speed that could rival that of the sound's. He was so fast Crookshanks and Hermione didn't notice him. He jumped on the top of the armor suit's head - elevating him and making him stand higher than Crookshanks' vulnerable skull. Crookshanks' back was facing him and his body was hiding Hermione from Ron's view. Ron tried to pull the spear the armor was holding and – many thanks to adrenaline rush – he successfully pulled the spear and poked it hard on Crookshanks head.

Loud crashes and a shrill screech rang on the deserted corridor. Ron fell over the floor but he landed gracefully, quickly evading the falling armor suit. Hermione was still standing on the corner, her eyes popping and her mouth still hanging open after letting out a shriek. Crookshanks lied motionless on the floor, unconscious. When Hermione recovered from the shock she ran to Crookshanks and checked his head.

"Ron! Ron! Oh no!" Hermione cried hysterically. She checked the back of Crookshanks' head and she almost passed out when she saw trickles of blood gushing from it. "Oh no… Ron…" she looked really helpless and her eyes were silently screaming.

Ron came over to them. His fleeting victory was quickly replaced by strong guilt. Hermione seemed oblivious that he was just standing behind her. He watched as she tried to stop Crookshanks' bleeding head with her handkerchief. She pointed her wand at Crookshanks' unconscious body and directed it, without any doubt, to the hospital wing.

Ron didn't follow Hermione. He just watched her in silence as she disappeared out of his sight. Yes, he wanted to hurt Crookshanks alright, but he didn't expect that it would make him feel bad. His conscience was bugging him. What he did was too impulsive - even he admitted that.

His guilt started to swell that it ached his chest. _I hope he'd be alright_, he thought hopefully. He looked at the suit of armor lying beside him. He could see his reflection on its well-polished shield – a grumpy and oddly squashed face of a ginger cat.

Then a new feeling began to seize him. It was panic. How stupid! How could he forget? Crookshanks was doing everything so they could go back to their respective bodies! How foolish was he to interfere when Crookshanks was doing everything for their sake! And now, he even assaulted his own physical body!

"How could I be this stupid!" Ron roared angrily. He saw Mrs. Norris at the end of the corridor and he knew that any seconds Filch would be coming there. Ron ran quickly away from the crime scene, hoping against hope that Filch wouldn't catch him. Being caught would just complicate matters, he thought.

When he was sure he was already too far from the Arithmancy corridor he stopped. Now his and Crookshanks' fate rested on his hand. To atone for his sin he had to do everything just to get back to their old selves. But how on earth could he make Hermione kiss Crookshanks?

Trembling, Ron looked out of the window. The sun shining amidst the bright blue sky blinded him. There was only little time left, and now he had to do everything by himself.

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	8. Drastic Measures

**CUDDLESOME CAT-ASTROPHE **

by squidward

**

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****DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Harry Potter. 

**A/N:** Alas, here's an update! I wonder if anyone still remembers this story… This fic has finally come to a conclusion. Sorry if it took me this long, it's all my lazy butt's fault! Thanks to everyone who supported this fic!

**

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****Chapter VIII: Drastic Measures**

It was already three. The Gryffindor common room was enveloped with a deafening silence, since all of its occupants were still staying in their respective classrooms. Ron stared at the grandfather's clock, wishing for the time to slow down, but it seemed that with every tick of its fingers he was only reminded that he barely had four and a half hours to save his and Crookshanks' future.

An hour and a half ago he almost killed Crookshanks with his assault, and now he was paying the price of his stupidity. The prospect of staying as a cat forever scared him to no end, and it was worse that he couldn't do anything about it.

He had to make a plan, but no matter how hard he thought he couldn't think of anything that a four-legged feline could do smoothly. Where was his strategic mind gone off when he needed it the most? This was like playing wizard's chess with only a pawn to protect your king while your opponent still had all his pieces unscratched. Yet, trying something – no matter how stupid it was – was still better than doing just nothing and waiting for doomsday to arrive.

Without his thinking cap on he went up to the boy's dormitory and grabbed the three things that he thought could be of help to him.

_Plan A: Write to Hermione_

There was no other choice but to tell everything to her, even to the risk of him being labeled as a pervert. He would explain their situation and beg Hermione to kiss his unconscious body that was lying in the hospital wing. Since verbal language had escaped him he resorted to writing a letter.

Only three things were needed in this plan: a parchment, a quill, and an ink. He gathered these from his trunk and brought them down to the common room. He settled on the space near the fireplace and stayed away from the carpet, just in case he spilled the ink.

He stretched the parchment to its full length. For a moment he pondered on what to write and realized that starting this letter was harder than he expected. Getting straight to the point would make him sound incredulous, and the last thing he wanted was Hermione disbelieving him. But he had to start.

He picked the quill using his mouth but dropped it again when he remembered that he still hadn't opened the ink bottle. Unsealing the cap was a chore, since the bottle always slipped from his claw. After a few minutes of impatient biting and slipping, the cap finally went off – with ninety percent of the bottle's content. The ink spilled on the floor beside him, and he was thankful that he didn't work on the carpet. Well, on the plus side the ink was already within his reach, he thought, and picked the quill again.

He dipped the quill on the spilled ink and started writing using his mouth. If opening the ink bottle was a chore, then writing using your mouth was torture. Ron kept on scribbling beyond the parchment because it was really hard to have control over the quill. His 'D' which started his supposed 'Dear Hermione' didn't look like a D at all but just a very thick jagged line with a slightly curved stoke below it. Surely, starting this letter was a whole lot harder than he expected, literally and figuratively.

After a good forty minutes of pointless scrawling and scratching of quill, with occasional spilling of ink, Ron surrendered and put his quill down. He stared at the product of his hardwork. Even the smartest decoder wouldn't understand its content, when even he, the writer, couldn't make the heads or tails of it. The parchment looked like an abstract black and white painting and not a single word, even a letter, was legible. Ron looked at the grandfather's clock again. He just wasted another precious hour and he couldn't help but sigh.

_Plan A: Failure_. But he still had three and a half hours. So it was time to do the next move.

_**Plan B: Use body language. **_

Since it was no use continuing the damn letter-writing, Ron devised another way of delivering his message to Hermione, which was using the sign language. After all, his bushy-haired bestfriend was good at deciphering complicated things and he only had to trust Hermione's intelligence for this plan to succeed. After checking the clock again Ron darted out of the common room. The sixth-year Gryffindors were having Transfiguration at this time so he hurried to the Transfiguration corridor and looked for his bestfriends.

Professor McGonagall was circling the classroom, correcting the wand movements of her students and wincing every now and then when they got the spell wrong. It would be hard to sneak in – he wouldn't want Hermione to get into trouble because of him. But time is galleons, just like what the twins had told him. He first tried to catch Hermione's eyes, but it was a fat chance that she would look his way. _Why did she have to take the seat on the last row?_

There was no other choice but to wait for them to finish. He knew Hermione too well to expect her to leave the class for her pet. Well, he should use his time wisely at least. He tried to rehearse doing sign language, only to find out that it was as hard as letter-writing, if not harder. He was making weird gestures and he knew he really looked stupid. Explaining his whole predicament through this retarded plan was impossible. But he had to give it a try.

Professor McGonagall said something to the class, but Ron didn't catch it. Then the students started to move and he realized that the class was already dismissed. He hurried to Hermione and tugged the hem of her robes to get her attention.

"Crookshanks, what are you doing here?" she still looked restless, the memory of the afternoon's event still imprinted on her haggard face. Harry just raised his eyebrow when he saw Ron the cat.

"Let's check on Ron now, Hermione," said Harry nonchalantly.

"Yeah, but we have to drop to the library first," Hermione replied, then she turned to Ron. "You shouldn't be hanging around here, dear. Go back to the common room."

Ron shook his head stubbornly and started waving his paws here and there, attempting to convey an understandable message. But he never had any talent in playing charades, even in his human form, so doing this while trapped in a cat's body was worse than the worst.

"Err…" Harry muttered, trying his best to suppress a chuckle. Hermione just looked at her pet blankly. "Are you hungry my dear?" she asked gently.

That was it. He should have abandoned this plan from the very beginning. _Plan B: An obvious failure._

Ron just shrugged and walked out of the room, leaving a confused Hermione and a chortling Harry. He racked his brain again for another strategy, his feet leading him to a place even he didn't know. He walked for almost an eternity, when suddenly he bumped into someone. He looked up to see who it was, and his eyes sparkled with hope when he learned who was it.

_**Plan C: Get an interpreter.**_

It was Dobby. Usually, the house elf's staring tennis ball-sized eyes scared him to oblivion, but now little Dobby was a savior figure to him. There was something inside him telling that the house elves could understand animals since they weren't humans. There had to be some connection between them and the other lower beings, he knew it!

"You is Harry Potter's friend's cat, does you?" Dobby asked uncertainly. "You is should not be wondering around, because Harry Potter's friend will be worried!"

Good thing Dobby had started the conversation. Ron cleared his throat and started blurting everything he failed to tell Hermione.

"Nyaw meow nyaw nyaw nyaw! Meow meow nyaw nyaw, meow nyaw meow, nyaw nyaw nyaw! MEOW NYAW!" Ron paused to catch some air and looked up to the elf. Dobby was looking at him seriously and this made Ron hopeful. The house elf must be thinking of what he could do to help him! Ron's eyes sparkled as he tried to continue on explaining, but he was cut off by Dobby's angry voice.

"Harry Potter's friend's cat shouldn't be too noisy because you is disturbing the classes! Dobby is not understanding what a cat is saying!"

That shattered Ron into pieces. Dobby disapparated with a loud crack, leaving Ron the cat almost lifeless and hopeless. He was stupid to think that house elves were animals, and Hermione's nagging voice about S.P.E.W automatically ran in his head.

But he hadn't got any time to think about house elves. He just faced another fact. _Plan C: Another failure._

Ron dragged his four worn-out feet again to go somewhere else, and after ten minutes of unconscious walking he found himself in the Great Hall, heading to the Gryffindor table to find his bestfriends. His grumbling stomach must be the one who led him there, but when he saw that Harry and Hermione were absent he left the hall and went to the place where his bestfriends were – the hospital wing.

And another idea popped in his head. This one made more sense than the others he had thought and with the rekindled hope in his mind he dashed to the infirmary to implement his plan.

_**Plan D: Wake Crookshanks up.**_

The worried faces of Harry and Hermione welcomed Ron when he sneaked inside the hospital wing. Crookshanks was lying still, only his regular breathing being the sign that he was still alive. The guilt on Hermione's face was very prominent, and Harry didn't even bother to console her this time. He knew that the only thing that would make her feel better was 'Ron' gaining consciousness.

Nobody was talking and only the scratching of quills from Madam Pomfrey's table could be heard. Ron looked at his body, and the memory of few hours ago came back to him: outside the Charms room after Hermione brought Crookshanks in the hospital wing.

_

* * *

__Harry was already there, waiting for his bestfriends to arrive. He was confused when only Hermione walked towards him, wearing a grim face. Ron arrived just in time to hear Hermione's account of what had happened._

"…_You see, he dragged me away from Crookshanks, and said that he desperately needed my help. He sounded urgent so I followed, and I asked him about the prefect meeting. He said that it was just a fluke, he just made that as an excuse to be alone with me," Hermione paused, blush creeping on her pale face. "I asked him what was the problem, but he didn't answer until we reached the Arithmancy corridor._

"_We stopped in front of an armor suit then he faced me. He looked really serious, I've never seen him like that before. Then he asked me…" she stopped again, her face turning redder, if that was still possible._

"_Asked you what?" Harry inquired curiously._

_Hermione gulped and looked down, "Well, he asked me whether if he would do something really stupid to me, will I promise not to get mad. I stared at him confoundedly but he really looked dead serious, so I replied that I think I won't," she sighed and looked reflective for a moment, as if remembering what exactly had happened._

"_What did he do?" Harry insisted._

_"Er, he asked me to close my eyes and made me promise not to do anything until he says that I can open them. I found it suspicious but he quickly snapped that that was something I could do for him as his bestfriend. I really have no idea on what he was planning, but I closed my eyes anyway. Suddenly the armor suit fell on his head, and before I knew it he was already lying unconscious on the floor," Hermione's voice cracked a little and Harry knew that she was trying hard not to cry. Ron thought he had heard enough and left his bestfriends, and started to think of ways on how to get Hermione kiss poor Crookshanks._

* * *

Inside him, Ron knew that Hermione was aware of what Crookshanks really attempted to do, but she left that detail when he told Harry what happened (leaving poor Harry to wonder what on earth 'Ron' wanted to do with Hermione). Ron couldn't help but wonder – did Hermione just agreed on the prospect of him kissing her? He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of unnecessary things.

"Hermione, let's have our dinner first," Harry suggested.

"You go ahead, I'll stay here for a moment," she responded quite indifferently. Harry just shrugged, his stomach was already grumbling, so he mumbled a soft "See you later" before exiting the room.

Ron thought that this must be the perfect moment to wake Crookshanks up. He walked over the bed and tried to climbed on it. He was successful, and he jumped on Crookshanks' arms, tugged his sleeves and hissed loudly to wake him up. But Hermione was quick to stop him.

"Crookshanks!" she exclaimed softly, pulling him to her bosom, "Keep quiet or Madam Pomfrey will throw us out! And stop bothering Ron, okay?" Ron struggled but stopped when he knew that it was futile. For an enduring moment he felt that Plan D was another failure. And it seemed that Crookshanks had no intention of waking up.

He trembled. He could already feel that his fate was already being dictated – that he would be staying as a half-kneazle for the rest of his life! It was terrible, but as time continued to slip away he couldn't help but admit defeat. It was all over, and it was all because of his stupidity.

He would watch from far away as his two dearest friends, Harry and Hermione, graduate from Hogwarts, pursue their own careers and start their own families. And Crookshanks, who would be living as Ronald Weasley would take that same path as well, while he, the grumpy old Ron would be spending nine painstaking lifetimes before he could finally rest in peace.

All his dreams had come to an end at that very instant. From the corner of his eye he saw that it was already quarter to six, and though he knew that he could still do something within the remaining time, all of his strength and hope suddenly vanished as he stared at his lifeless body.

"I hope he wakes up soon," Hermione muttered sadly. Ron could feel the painful tightening in his chest and he thought his heart was being squeezed mercilessly. Though she was holding him at that moment he felt very distant to her. Hermione was already out of his reach, a cherished dream he had to let go before frustration killed him. How many times had he dreamt of staying with her for the rest of his life, of living with her in a nice and simple home, of having her as the mother of his children…

For the fifth time an idea popped in his head again, making him more agitated. Unable to contain his excitement he tried to struggle out of Hermione's embrace. She made a little effort to restrain him and let him go in the end.

Ron crept behind her stealthily, praying for this plan to work. This was his last chance and he wanted all the luck in this world to be by his side, just for this minute. Hermione was sitting beside Crookshanks' bed, her face still gloomy and tired. Ron took a deep breath, dashed towards Hermione and throw himself on her back.

That took Hermione by surprise and she had already lost her balance before she could let out a gasp. Ron concentrated all his weight on her back and inwardly apologized to his bestfriend for the pain he was causing her as he tried his best not to pierce her back with his claws. This was the only way for this plan to succeed so he tried to feel not too guilty.

Then, as if everything happened in slow motion, Hermione fell over the sleeping Crookshanks, wide-eyed in surprise, and before she could grasp on something to prevent her fall her face had already landed on Crookshanks, their noses bumping and her lips slowly pressing on his…

* * *

Ron's mind started to swirl and his vision became hazy. He was so drained, and he was glad to feel something soft on his back. He didn't even had the strength to open his eyes when he felt something soft on his lips. He didn't know if it was already there before he started to feel dizzy, but all he knew was that it felt good. _This has to be something heaven sent_, he thought. He wanted to relish that wonderful moment and stay like that forever but the soft thing pulled away as sudden as he felt it.

"I-I'm so sorry! I-I d-didn't mean to-, i-it w-was an accident! I-I'm really sorry!" Ron heard Hermione stammered and when he opened his eyes he saw her scandalized face. She was as red as a tomato.

As if her lips just fueled him with energy Ron felt perfectly healthy again and he tried to sit up, making Hermione stutter again. "R-Ron I-I r-really didn't mean to! I-I s-swear! I'm glad that you're already awake b-but-"

"But what?" Ron asked in mock innocence, but he failed to suppress a teasing leer. Crookshanks let out a tired 'meow' and he and Ron caught each other's eyes. Crookshanks looked as grouchy as before but Ron gave him a grateful grin, and he felt that the half-kneazle was grinning back at him. Ron tried to flex his muscles, wiggle his toes and stretch his fingers. He saw his reflection on the glass infront of him. He winked and the image winked back. Extreme joy transmitted a powerful blaze on his overworked nerves. Yes, he was back in his real body! _Plan E was a success!_

"Y-you s-see, I-I lost my balance when Crookshanks knocked me off a-and I-I, er, w-well, er," Hermione stared hardly on the floor, as if wishing for it to open and swallow her whole body, just to save her from the humiliation she was feeling. Her ears were already as red as her face, unable to continue what she was about to say. Ron watched her amusedly. She looked really cute when she was like that.

Feeling really elated that he had triumphed over his dilemma Ron decided to celebrate by teasing his charming friend. After all, she was the one who caused all this trouble and he thought that she had to pay for it sweetly…

"Then what happened?" Ron challenged her to continue. Hermione looked nervously at him, and Ron could read in her eyes that she was begging him to stop this interrogation. But Ron wouldn't take that. "What happened?" he asked again.

"Y-you a-already know! W-why d-do you have to ask?" she fumed embarrassingly.

"Well I was only half-awake so I only have a vague idea of what had happened."

"I said it was an accident!"

"What's the accident then?" Ron asked persistently. Knowing that Hermione wouldn't answer him he let the matter rest on his hand. "I was in the middle of nowhere when suddenly I felt something on my lips," he looked at Hermione with a smirk on his face, making her flinch. "Then when I opened my eyes I saw you ranting about something. Am I right in thinking that you actually stole a kiss from me?"

"I SAID IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"

"Weasley if you're already feeling fine then can you please escort Miss Granger out before you two shatter my ears?" Madam Pomfrey snapped angrily as she went over to them, obviously to check on Ron. Hermione rolled her eyes, trying to contain her temper while Madam Pomfrey made a last check on Ron's injury.

"You're okay now so you may go," the nurse grunted. "Continue your bickering outside so you won't disturb the other patients!" After throwing an angry glare to the red-head Hermione marched out of the room furiously while Ron and Crookshanks followed, Ron shutting the door behind them.

They stayed silent for a moment before Ron started, "You were saying that you accidentally kissed me, right?"

"Crookshanks knocked me off from behind and I really didn't expect it! I just lost my balance!" she hissed through gritted teeth, trying to keep her cool since Ron had just been out of the infirmary. She had to give him some consideration.

"That is lamest excuse I've ever heard Miss Granger," teased Ron. Normally when Hermione was this angry he was also glaring at her crossly, but this time was different. The seething face of Hermione was just priceless.

"You have to be thankful Ron that you just came out of the hospital wing or else I wouldn't be this tolerant with you!"

"But that was my first kiss! You do owe me a proper explanation!"

"Haven't I already given you one? Ronald Weasley you're such a jerk!" and she walked away but in a swift motion Ron grabbed her wrist. "Hey, you don't have to be so worked up with it. I'm just joking."

"Your brain surely got a huge damage after being hit twice, eh?" she snarled, but the tension on her face was subsiding. Ron broke into his usual lopsided grin. Crookshanks just growled in boredom.

"You know, Crookshanks is a smart ass, but that never stopped him from being a git," pondered Ron loudly. Hermione arched her brows and Crookshanks howled angrily. "Are you starting another row with my cat?"

Ron wanted to correct her about the cat thing ('_Crookshanks is a half-kneazle!_' he thought) but held his tongue. He just smirked at Crookshanks who was glaring at him, "No, I just thought that the reason your pet is like that is because he is very unfortuate to be born as a cat."

"And what about him being a cat?"

"Well, cats can't write letters, can't do sign language, and can't utter anything sensible, which makes them really pathetic." Crookshanks hissed at Ron's words but Ron just ignored him. Hermione, on the other hand, just stared at him with a baffled expression.

"Ron, you're just hungry. Let's just eat, Harry might already be in the common room waiting for us," she turned on her heel but Ron stopped her again.

"Wait," Ron exclaimed, grabbing her arm. Hermione stared at him quizzically but Ron was seeing her in a different light. All of his thoughts for the past twenty-four hours were Hermione-centered, and he knew that he couldn't already control the eddy of emotions inside his chest without losing his sanity. He almost lost her few minutes ago, and he had to prove to himself that he already had her back.

"What?" she asked, clueless at what was going on inside the head of her bestfriend.

"Well, I just thought that it wasn't fair on my part," Hermione wanted to ask what he meant but Ron had already closed the gap between them, and with a surprising gracefulness he had never achieved before he claimed her lips with his. Hermione was taken aback, her heart stopping for a moment, but then she closed her eyes and let herself fall into his sweet kiss. _Her lips are so soft_, Ron thought and he wished that he could kiss her like this forever. He reluctantly pulled away to breathe, his cheeks flushed.

"Now we're even," he grinned, pinching her nose affectionately. He didn't know where he got his courage to this, but at that moment he was felt that he truly was a proud Gryffindor. Hermione was blushing again. Crookshanks was already nowhere in sight.

"You've got a funny way of getting revenge," she mumbled at last, and she smiled sweetly at the red-head. Ron pulled her closer to him, felt her cheeks with his, drinking on her wonderful scent. He was glad that she was already his. He would tell her his adventure as Crookshanks later, but now he just wanted to cuddle her. Like the way she cuddled him in his cat form.

"You know what, when I hold a girl like this I will never let her go," he whispered in her ear.

"I know," she replied softly. "But I wanted to fill my stomach first. You don't want me dying in your arms because of starvation."

"Right," Ron chuckled. He released her from his embrace and kissed her nose before they went, hands intertwined, to the Great Hall.

**THE END**


End file.
